Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the challenge posed by new/digital media?

Since the launch of Facebook and Twitter in 2004 and 2006 respectively, social networking has had a colossal impact upon media institutions. Many media organisations now incorporate the platform of social networking into their productions and texts to appeal to the wide demographic that use such sites. However, in many instances this approach to increasing popularity has both advantages and disadvantages.

Focusing on the print platform, many newspapers and magazines now have an online format of their product so that it is accessible to a extensive range of people and can expand the institutions’ target demographic. The online format of newspapers and magazines is both versatile and easily navigable. Looking specifically at The Guardian’s online newspaper, one can see that the way topics and articles are displayed makes it easy for a visitor of the site to immediately access what they are looking for. The Guardian also has a Twitter page and Facebook app – the Facebook app with 1,500,000 monthly users and the Twitter page with 217,366 followers. The real-time concept of Facebook and Twitter means that information is updated constantly. Most of the news released on Facebook and Twitter will not be published in newspapers until the following day, so users of these sites are promptly informed of current affairs in a simple way. The ability to comment on articles published via social networking sites means that the audience is active rather than passive – they are able to voice their opinions on articles. This means that the newspaper has accurate feedback on how the audience feel about the news.

However, a major disadvantage to using social networking in online newspapers and magazines is that they reduce the number of people buying print magazines and newspapers. Newspaper sales of The Guardian have dramatically decreased since the popularity of the online sites has grown. This means that The Guardian is losing profits because the majority of services it offers online are completely free to users. Another disadvantage in terms of Facebook is that it provides opportunity for biased and unsupported claims to be made by users who disagree with articles, hindering others from interpreting the articles in their own way, meaning that their view will become severely mediated.

Citizen journalism is also a big factor in the decline of printed newspaper popularity. Because many newspapers are owned by the hegemony – a ruling elite of rich people, the information is presented and mediated in the way that they desire. This means that rather than getting biased and heavily opinion based information from the media, average citizens in the area of notable events can post information (ie videos and photos) of events on social networking sites, meaning that the receivers of this information have an accurate source of what is actually happening. Citizen journalism has also altered several situations via Facebook and Twitter which would be almost impossible to do without them. Occupy, the protest against the minority of people who ‘control the world’, the hegemony, was organised and announced over Twitter and has now gained many

Joanna Walker

celebrity supporters. The rebellion against corrupt leaders in several middle-east countries, notably Egypt, was also organised via Twitter after rebels were able to bypass the censor on the site – authorities were therefore unaware of the events they were planning. However there is a negative side to citizen journalism. Many of the 2011 London riots were organised via Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger, meaning that authorities were unable to uncover the criminals’ motives and could not track their moves. Despite this, cleanups after the destruction were organised over Twitter and Facebook, and gained thousands of supporters willing to help. These events show that although traditional newspaper institutions are adapting to an online format, there is still heavy competition from average citizens who are able to easily post accurate and unmediated information on social networking sites.

The platform of broadcast film and television also use social networking as a big factor in their advertising campaigns. When watching a film trailer or advertisement, there is often a link to a social networking site displayed towards the end of the clip, so that an audience can visit these sites and find out more information about the production. In many cases, if a film or TV programme does not have a Facebook/Twitter page, it will be significantly lower in popularity than one that does. Facebook and Twitter provide further information on a film/television production, and can make audiences feel as though they are being let in on something secretive. As with newspapers, the ability to comment on Facebook means that the producers of the film/TV texts can grasp a good understanding of how successful the programme/film has been before ratings are made and (in terms of a film) box office profits are counted. However, although a link to a social networking site can increase popularity of the product, the opportunity to post comments means that users may visit the page and unwittingly read spoilers that have been posted by those who have already seen the film or television programme.

Overall, social networking has had a dramatic impact upon traditional media institutions, with both successful and unsuccessful results. The media is a constantly evolving industry and will continue to change the way we as an audience receive information for a long time to come.

Joanna Walker